Why Ron Paul Has A Good Chance Of Winning In Nevada & Maine

Congressman has effectively been campaigning in the states for four years

Steve Watson
Infowars.com
February 1, 2012

While Mitt Romney walked home an inevitable victory in the winner takes all Florida primary this week, the Ron Paul 2012 campaign was busy campaigning in Maine and Nevada, where the Congressman’s team has been busy building on a six figure ad buy.

Paul’s campaign has a lot riding on Nevada where the Congressman, scheduled to hold a major press conference in Las Vegas today, has polled consistently high for weeks.

Indeed, Paul has been running ads in The Silver State since last summer in anticipation of the caucuses which begin this Saturday, Feb 4th. When Paul unveiled his centerpiece budget plan last October, he did it in Las Vegas.

Four years ago Paul placed second in Nevada behind Mitt Romney. This time around Paul’s support has grown exponentially, while Romney’s has more or less remained the same. The Congressman has had two offices open in Nevada for months and has amassed a sizeable army of volunteers to canvass for the campaign, just as he did in Iowa and New Hampshire. In contrast, Newt Gingrich only opened an office in the state last weekend.

Paul’s core supporters have been campaigning in Nevada since September, and a group of Paul backers made a coordinated effort to become elected as Republican officers in their local party groups after a delegate dispute in the state party convention in 2008. “The ground game and the grass-roots activity never stopped,” said Carl Bunce, chairman of Mr. Paul’s campaign in Nevada.

As the article notes, it is Paul and Romney that hold the cards in Nevada – Paul because of his strong organization, and Romney because Mormons account for more than one-quarter of caucus-goers.

Paul has chosen to focus on Nevada because TV advertising is cheaper and independents are eligible to vote in the caucuses.

The Congressman is tapping into the $13.3 million that his campaign raised in the fourth quarter of 2011. Paperwork submitted to the Federal Election Commission Tuesday revealed that Paul hauled in over $3.5 million more than Newt Gingrich. The former Speaker of the House is also in debt to the tune of $1.2 million.

Rick Santorum resides way behind in terms of contributions, with just $915,000 for Q4, still by far, his best fundraising quarter for the year, however.

Romney tapped into his vast establishment connections and brought in $24.3 million between October and the end of the year.

The Caucuses in Maine and Colorado also begin this Saturday and Ron Paul is the only candidate who has routed significant energy into campaigning in the states.

Appearing on CNN last night, Paul elaborated on his strategy:

“You have to break through and get the attention that you can win some states.” Paul said. “We spent some time in Maine and there’s tremendous support up there so we are optimistic about that. We went through Colorado today, the crowds were very very big and very enthusiastic and we think we have a good organisation there, and that’s a caucus state. Now we’re in Nevada, and the same things goes there, but we’ll also be in Minnesota.” Paul stated.

“It’s easier for us to compete. You need energy and harder workers, you need people who are dedicated and who believe in something. Then you can compensate for not having 30 or 50 million dollars to campaign in a state like Florida.” the Congressman added.

“We’re fortunate that the system still permits individuals like myself to compete when you compete on the fervor of believing in ideas and having good supporters.” Paul urged.

“If we were to have endless funds or I would have had the wealth of Ross Perot, I could have competed with Mitt in Florida. So that is a significant thing, but it’s also winning the hearts and minds and getting the people to understand that liberty is in their best interests.” Paul added.

Watch the full interview below:

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Steve Watson is the London based writer and editor for Alex Jones’ Infowars.net, and Prisonplanet.com. He has a Masters Degree in International Relations from the School of Politics at The University of Nottingham in England.